1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to storage receptacles for magnetic tape cassettes, and more particularly is directed to improvements in receptacles suitable for storing magnetic tape cassettes in a manner such that each cassette is enclosed in an individual compartment or space and protected from dirt, dust and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of storage receptacles for magnetic tape cassettes have been proposed. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,259, a magnetic tape cassette storage container is disclosed to include a generally rectangular casing having an opening along one of its sides through which the cassette itself is slidably inserted in, and removed from the casing. A pivoted door is provided for closing the open side of the casing, and a generally U-shaped spring is mounted, and its center, against the inner surface of the side wall of the casing opposed to the open side thereof. During the insertion of a cassette into the casing, the cassette acts against the normally U-shaped spring so as to flex or relatively flatten the latter, with the result that the spring exerts a force on the cassette tending to eject the latter from the casing. Therefore, when inserting the cassette in the casing, the cassette has to be manually held within the casing until the door is closed and latched in its closed position. The foregoing operations inconveniently require the use of two hands for insertion of a cassette. Furthermore, when the latch is released to permit opening of the door, the spring force acting on the cassette may forcibly eject the cassette completely out of the casing past the open door. Thus, the foregoing magnetic tape cassette storage container has disadvantageous characteristics both when inserting and removing a cassette. Furthermore, since the cassette is slidably inserted in, and removed from the casing of the container while acted upon by the spring, the cassette housing will become scratched or marred in the course of repeated movements into and out of the casing.
In another storage container for a mangetic tape cassette, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,229, a rectangular casing which is open at the front side thereof is provided with a drawer which is guided for rectilinear movements between a closed position, in which the drawer is contained within the casing with the open side of the latter being closed by the drawer front, and an opened or extended position in which a cassette can be placed in, or removed from the extended drawer. A spring is interposed between the drawer and the casing so as to continuously urge the drawer to its opened or extended position, and a latch is provided for releasably holding the drawer in its closed position against the force of such spring. Although such storage container provided with a rectilinearly slidable drawer avoids some of the problems associated with the existing storage container first described above, in that the cassette is cradled in the drawer while being inserted in, and removed from the casing and thus protected from scratching or marring, the structures provided for guiding the drawer in its rectilinear sliding movements relative to the casing tend to jam. Further, when the drawer is in its opened position, the insertion or removal of a cassette inconveniently requires rather complicated and precise manipulations of the cassette.
In still another existing storage receptacle for a magnetic tape cassette, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,088, the receptacle includes a housing constituted by spaced apart, L-shaped side walls having their vertical and horizontal portions connected by a back wall and a bottom wall, respectively, and a substantially rectangular container which is pivotally connected to the housing for swinging relative to the latter about an axis extending through a corner of the rectangular casing and through ends of the horizontal portions of the L-shaped side walls of the housing. In an opened position of the container in which the latter extends forwardly from the pivoting axis, the upwardly facing side of the rectangular casing is open for the insertion and removal of a cassette therethrough. When the container is pivotally moved to its closed position, the sides thereof interfit with the adjacent L-shaped side walls of the housing and the container and housing cooperate to enclose the cassette therein. Although the pivotal connection of the container with the housing is advantageous in that it is simple and not subject to binding or jamming, the location of the pivoting axis of the container is such that, with the container in its closed position and having a cassette therein, the force of gravity acts in back of the pivoting axis to urge the container to such closed position. Thus, when it is desired to remove a cassette from the storage receptacle of the foregoing type, the pivoted container has to be manually displaced from its closed position in respect to the associated housing. Further, as the pivoted container is moved toward its opened position, the center of gravity moves a relatively large distance in front of the pivoting axis so that the weight of a cassette in the container may cause an abrupt and potentially harmful final movement of the container to its opened position. It will also be noted that, since the side walls of the container and the L-shaped side walls of the housing interfit to define the opposite side surfaces of the storage receptacle in the closed condition of the latter, a plurality of such storage receptacles cannot be directly secured to each other in side-by-side relation, and an additional magazine engageable only with the relatively narrow L-shaped side walls of the housings is required for that purpose.